The Sun. — London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

AR MSTRO: TWORTH, There is still nothing very decisive to record ii the way of a clear final advantage of one of thos competitors aver the other. The verdict of one day' firing so often reverses the results gained the dal before, and these are so likely to be in turn upsel by experiments which are to come, that any attempt to give even an outline of each day's results woulc only add to the confusion of a confused subject, anc involve a question which the erratic and contradic tory action of the committee renders more involvec each day. The trials as regards firing for rang( and accuracy of the light 12-pounders have, as oui readers know, been brought to a conclusion, but a great deal yet remains to be done before the entire official programme is gone through, and the guns are delivered to the competitors for a kind of sup. plementary trial, in which both Sir William and Mr. Whitworth will be allowed to show off the powers of their ordnance in any specially favourable light they may choose. The latest competition with these 12-pounders was with shell —come men, segment, and shrapnel —against mantelets and targets, and to show the effect of accidental bursting of shell—that is, shell bursting 100 yards in front of troops, instead of, as they ought to burst, at 20 or 25 yards. These trials have been of the last importance in eliciting the destructive effects of each gun, and that and the question of endurance are really the main points to be solved by this con test. The value of a fieldegun may be estimated in a great measure by its power of throwing a destruc tive shell ef f ectively. Its performances with solid shot are so secondary to this important result as to bo in a measure almost beside the question. The marvellous excellence of Mr Whitworth's field-piece as a solid shot gun has never admitted of question, any more than that shell firing used to be its weak point. Colonel Boxer has, however, designed a shell (very similar in its general principles t o th a t now in use among the Federals, who, Colonel Boxer asserts, have taken his idea) Which seems to suit Mr Whitworth's gun admirably. Certainly, the results which have been obtained during recent practice:do the highest credit to Colonel Boxer's invention, which is most ingeniously constructed to get over the difficulty which the narrow diameter of Mr. Whitworth's projectile offered to its containing an efficient bursting charge at all. At the same time we must impress upon our readers the necessity of separating in their ideas the performances of Mr. Whitworth's gun from those of Colonel Boxer's shell, in so far as that if the Boxer shell is better and more destructive than the Armstrong segment shell, it is only a proof of the superiority of shells not of guns, as the Boxer shell can be fired from either, and would, if anything, be more easily adapted to the Armstrong gun than the Whitworth, and for these reasons:—The Armstrong fires a rather short, cone-headed, cylindrical shell ; this cylindrical form enables it to hold a large bursting charge in the centre, and round this are built or placed little rough cast iron segments of a circle, which give its name to this destructive shell. The Whitworth shell, on the: contrary, from its very narrow diameter and hexagonal shape, is not easy to adapt to a centre bursting charge, or to the iron segments. Colonel Boxer has, therefore, designed a thin cast iron shell, which be fills with leaden bullets, putting either the time or percussion fuse on the top, which leads down to the bottom of the shell, where a small exploding charge of powder is pieced. It the shell is to be broken up and spread its pieces with destructive effect this ex ploding charge is 12 drachms; if the bullets are wanted to go far it is only 6 drachms. With the latter small charge the shrapnel bullets are just blown out of the cast-iron shell case, which drops to the ground, while the bullets sweep on in a gradually exteneing circle, with all the force which they have derived from their original discharge from the can non's mouth. Thus, then, Colonel Boxer fires a sort of iron blunderbuss from the gun, which is die charged either by the time or by the percussion fuse on meeting any obstacle, and sends its hail of bullets forward. When used for short distances, however, the 12 drachms charge is preferred, which is enough to break the shell case and add its ragged fragments to the general havoc of the round bullets. If this principle was used for the Armstrong gun, the greater diameter of its shell would enable it always to use the full bursting charge, while a greater number of circular bullets could naturally be got into a circular shell than into a six-sided one. The use of a varying bursting charge is open to most grave objections in actual warfare. The idea of measuring the charges into a shell in the hurry and hot blood of action is as much out of the question as Sir William's idea of filling his common shells with the aid of a rammer and mallet, which was objected to and stopped by the Committee on Thursday as a thing which, like the altered charges of shell, it would be impossible to use in actual service. Tt i e theory of the Boxer shell having a light char g e to part its bullets without at all depriving tita n of th e force of their onward flight from the gun i s w ee• tics: with the theory of Sir William's segment shell, and, as we have said, with the theory of the Federal shell. The shrapnel shell of Colonel Boxer is very perfect indeerlt, but in its present adaptation to the Whitworth, gun it has some disadvantages which may very likely be capable of adjustment, bat which in the present state of this keen compe tition require notice. Colonel Boxer has no more fin '' !y perfected his percussion fuse than Sir William Armstrong has his fuse for time. When colonel Boxer fires his shells against the ground in front of troops many of them turn out " blind"-- that is, do not explode at all. When they do so explode, however, their effect in ricochet firing is greater thau Sir William's segment shell. The spherical form and superior density of Colonel Ilexer's bullets enable them to glance upwards after bursting sometimes in the right direction with murderous effect. Very often, however, they go in quite a wrong direction, for the W h i tworth shot efter touching the earth is rather erratic in its ricochet, and if its percussion shell explode s it may high into th e throw its bullets to the right or left or air according es the shell glances. This f ailure of explosion, which, though not frequent, yet s ome . times, to say the least, occurs, has led Colonel Boxer often to prefer his time fuse, which, as come pared with percussion, is very objectionable in action,, as the difference of cutting or piercing the fuse by one-tenth of a second—that is, the thickness of the edge of a penknife —more or less would make a difference of 40 yards too far or too short of where the shell ought to explode. Is it reasonable to expect that either officers or men can attain such infinitesimal accuracy in actual battle ? This partial failure of the percussion fuse no doubt is capable of adjustment, but all we have to say now is that it must be so adjusted before the shell can be considered to be what further care and prac tice no doubt might easily make it—a perfect shell, it is, perhaps, to overcome these temporary defects that the Committee have tried many of their late experiments against wooden screens in front of the targets, which burst the percussion shell before the target is reached, and thus insure es far as Possible the non-failure of Colonel Boxer's fuses against the ground, and also guard against the erratic ricochet of Mr. Whitworth's projectile, and the contents which Colonel Boxer puts into it. Thi s arrangeme n t b r i ngs to m i nd, a g ain, what we have before stated, that Col. Boxer has no more perfected his percussion fuse than Sir William has his time fuse. A large number of Sir William's time fuses have lit in the gun, and this premature explosion is a most grave defect, which must be due either to the fuse itself or the wear of gun may b e disre the gun. The injary it does thc garded, though it is by means trifling, b ut the mis chief it would inflict on troops if firing over their heads or operating upon their fl inks cannot be lost siglit of for a moment. If the fuse is not in fault, the shunt gun in which this defect has been most observab's is evidently letting the gases caused by the explcsion pass the and so burn its fuse. If this occasional failure can be prevented for the future, well and good. If it cannot, then either the us easel! is dangerously wrong or the shunt gun is giving the first well-marked signs of wear which may soon render it unserviceable. Ia the practice against the rope mantelets, which were made after the pattern of those used by the Russians to protect their embrasures, and were plaited mats of rope four itches thick, the shrapnel bullets from the 13,)x. upon this movement to say that there are but few military men in the North who do not consider it fraught with much greater danger than any which the army has yet encountered, and no friends of the South who do not fervently hope that nothing will prevent General Grant from attempting it. Reinforcements continue to be forwarded, but they are chiefly raw recruits and emigrants who have not been six months in the country—men who doubtless do not lack courage, bat who have not acquired the habits of discipline or the professional pride of the trained soldier. And however nume. rens these reinforcements may be, it is not probable that they more than half fill up the successive de pletions which the army of the Potomac has suffered during the last five weeks. The frightful loss of life in every battle does not account for more than 20 or 30 per cent. of the 100,000 men who have disappeared from the effective force of the army since the passage of the Rapidan. To these have to be added the wounded who fall in fair fight under the shot and shell of the enemy, the prisoners, the deserters, the three-year Volunteers whose term has expired, the tattered and attenuated remnants of whose once complete regiments continue to march through this city. But whether reinforced in whole or in part, General Grant has but little superiority in numbers over General Lee ; while the latter has an immense advantage not only in position, but in everything that goes to elevate the morale and in crease the heroism of an army. In anticipation of the next battle, news of which is hourly expected, the military hospitals of this city have been cleared of every man fit to bear re. moval to his home in the north or west, and all preparations made to receive from 6,000 to 10,000 men. Baltimore has not the accommodation for the wounded to be found at Washington, which a gentleman just arrived from that city describes as being one huge hospital ; but such ac commodation as it has is kept in constant requi sition. The hospitals are situated in various parts of the town, and tax to their utmost the professional resources of the place. I visited one of them a few days ago, immediately after a clearance had been made of the most advanced cases of convalescence, and saw as much human suffering in the space of half an hour as I care to see again in a lifetime. Ten houses—one of them a large hotel situated on one side of Camdenestreet, and six, including a piano% forte manufactory, directly opposite—have been hired by the Government, connected one with the other, and form the chief military hospital of Balti more. The wards are clean and airy, and every pos sible adjunct of health and comfort is provided for the wounded. Such as remained on the day of my visit were for the most part fatal cases, or cases of which the surgeons had lint faint hopes. There were men who had lo:,t legs and arms, and men who were awaiting resignedly —and many of them num consciously-- or thatthe inevitable amp u t at i on t h at m i ght might' not save their lives, and who seemed to 'have lost all interest in the war and the world, and in everything around them, save perhaps in the friendly care of some sympethising nurse, who smoothed their pillows or offered them their drink or their medicine. There were some who had the crowns of their heads carried off by fragments of bursting shells, and yet survived ; some shot through the lungs and certain to die, but yet thinking by a look any kind-hearted surgeon who ventured to tell them, against his convictions, that there was yet hope ; others whose jaws had been torn away, some shot in the foot, some in the hand, some through the shoulder, and some in the head—the ball in one in stance not being merciful enough to take life, but to leave insanity behind it. The rooms were tastefully adorned with the Federal flag, vases of flowers, and sometimes with aquariums, or Wardian cases of ferns, and the walls hung with portraits, among which that of Jenny Lind was most conspicuous, and appeared in every room. These gifts were contributed by the nurses, all of whom were Northern and principally New England ladies, who had read of Florence Nightingale, and, inspired by her example, had de voted their time, their kindness, their care, and their money to the relief of suffering humanity, and the elevation of the common hospital to the comfort and the dignity of a home. Among these ladies was one in deep mourning, whose husband married her two years ago, started from the altar to the battle-field, and returned no more. Another, who paid two visits daily to the hospital, was not exactly a nurse, but did something of a nurse's duty in her own peculiar way. She was about 60 years of age, scrupulously neat in her attire, was dressed in decent black, car ried a basket of cakes on her arm, and seemed as if she had boon permitted to come into the hospital to carry on her humble trade among the soldiers. She stopped at every bed, or at every chair in which a soldier sat up reading, and offered her frugal ware, looking hurt if it were not accepted. But the good woman was no merchant. She made the cakes herself fresh every morning, and they were her free will offerings to the men. It was all she could afford, and it was the only way that suggested itself to her mind in which she could be of service. It was supposed she had lost a husband, or more probably a son, in the recent battles, but as she said nothing about it and seemed to shun conversation, no one cared to invade the secrecy in which she chose to envelope herself. In addition to her cakes, she carried in her basket a collection of newly gathered roses ; and when in her peregrinations through the wards she came to a bedside of which the occupant was palpably doomed to rise no more alive, she placed a rose upon his pillow if he slept; or, if he were awake, put it into his hand, with a look of motherly commiseration, and passed on. And who shall deny the wealth of pity in her gentle action, or assert that in her humble ministrations there was no portion of those heavenly charace teristics which we ascribe to the angels ? Although the ladies cf Baltimore, with this one exception, left to the ladies of a more Northern and Eastern latitude the duty of attending to the wants and cheering the last hours of the Federal wounded, it must not be supposed that their sym pathies were not as abundant as those of their Northern sisters. The sympathies existed, but they flowed in another direction. There were no Con. federate wounded to be cared for, but there were Confederate prisoners in Fort Delaware and other places in the vicinity who required the kindly atten tion of those who believe that they suffered in a righteous cause. The military autocrat of Balti. more—who rules as stringently as Butler before him, though he may see treason and disloyalty in the expression of sympathy with Southern captives, has not yet deemed it expedient to say so, or to pro hibit the good Samaritans of his satrapy from feed. ing the hungry and clothing the naked, even if the hungry and the naked be the enemies of his Govern ment. The good Samaritans therefore --all of them ladies—having full command of their husbands' purses for this object, if for no other, no sooner hear of the arrival of a detachment of Southern prison ers than they meet to apportion the wants of the captives among them, and to provide them, each according to her means, with the clothing and other comforts they may require to render captivity less irksome. One lady, three days ago, clothed 100 prisoners at her own expense ; another provided for 60, another for 20, and many more provided for two or three. They were not allowed to deliver their bounty personally, but were permitted to re ceive the epistolary thanks of the recipients. The letters of the prisoners are in every style of com position, from the ungrammatical to the correot, from the business-like to the romantic, but all con vey th e same manly gratitude and the same un wavering confidence in the final triumph of the cause for which they have suffered so much and are r eady to suffer to the end. shell constantly penetrated, while, as might be ex pected, the rough iron segments of the Armstrong a shell as constantly and signally failed to do so. In e making the fragments of the shell and its bullets or segments ricochet upwards from the ground the r Boxer shrapnel again had a clear advantage, the dense spherical bullets glancing easily from the t earth, while the rough iron segments of the Arm -1 strong cut into the ground and soon stopped them -1 selves. So also in trials for accidental bursting too - soon in front of troops the Boxer shell again had a I clear advantage—an advantage, however, which must be considered in connexion with the following r qualifying statement—ln exploding his shell at short distances in front of troops, or the targets i which represented them, Colonel Boxer used his large charge of 12 drachms in order to get the greatest effect from the pieces of his broken case. At the long distances he used the light charge in order to get the greatest effect from his bullets shot out of the case. When this alteration of charges in shells which were supposed to burst too soon acci dentally came to the knowledge of Sir William he at once protested against it, and demanded fresh trials, or, at all events, that a note should be ap. pended to the results, showing that varying charges had been used to accomplish them. The Committee, after long deliberation, have, however, decided that in future varying c h arges must not be used, and that experiments shall be made with the high and low charged Boxer shell from Mr. Whitworth's gun, and if the results given by the different charges are . material, a note to that effect is to be appended to the returns of the Whitworth shell practice made by such means. It is the opinion of many that these gun trials should not have been conducted at the same time with the trial of the new and expe rimentid shell of Colonel Boxer; but we confess we cannot regret anything which has brought to light a missile likely to be so valuable to the service and the country as Colonel Boxer's shell promises to become. With common shell—that is, a thin case of cast iron, filled with powder, lit from the front by a percussion or time fuse, the Whitworth gun was very distinctly beaten by both of Sir William's. Mr. Whitworth, to a certain ext en t, f ran kl y a d m i ts this victory, and explains it clearly enough by say ing that an error of judgment was committed in making the common shell half a diameter too long, which has, to a certain degree, spoilt its shooting. We give this explanation or excuse as we gave Sir William's about the steel tube of his breech-loader not expanding under the explosion of high proof charges, as it is said it would have done had the whole tube been of wrought coiled iron. But while, for the satisfaction of the competitors, we make their apologies public, it must not be forgotten that they are excuses to which both the public and the committee will wisely turn a deaf ear, and look to results alone. Both competitors had the most ample time to mature their preparations and elaborate their weapons to the utmost, and by those which they have now at last put forward they must be content to stand or fall. After the trials with common shell were ,ver each competitor was allowed to fire shell -A ar hi s own fashion, through embrasures at old, guns sur rounded with dummy figures and with empty limbers in the rear. In thi 9t contest the Arm strong shunt gun gained a. marked superiority. The practice with tht 70 pounder has now ad vanced to a stage at which the experiments against the iron 'plated Warrior target have com menced. The trials with the large guns, if we may so far miscall the 70 pounders, which have led up to these armour plate experiments, have included the first stages of firing for range and aezuracy, during which both the shunt and the Whitworth were as nearly as possible equal in ac. curacy, though at 3,000 yards range the Whitworth had an advantage of nearly 200 yards. A breech loader of Sir William's, not on the old vent-piece system but one more recently invented, which opens the breech at the side with sliding wedges, was included in these trials ; but we may dismiss the performances of this piece altogether, as it was on Friday very wisely withdrawn from competition. Thus, as far as we yet know, the second system of breech loading for large guns has for the present been given up by Sir William. The trials against the Warrior target took place on Thursday and Friday, and in this competition a decisive victory was looked forward to for the Whitworth gun, which from the very small diameter of its shot has generally been found most effective for at leest penetrating the armour plates if it did not damage them much. Contrary to all expectation, however, at this contest Sir William's shunt gun achieved a decisive victory over the Whitworth, both with shot and shell, beating it in the ratio of at least two to one. The length to which this notice has extended precludes our giving the details on this occasion ; but we shall take the earliest oppor tunity of referring fully to this great stage of the competition which is likely to be the most decisive, as it is beyond all question the most important, of them all. The Semaphore of Marseilles states that the at mospherical variations which hive so prevailed during the last month have now ceased, and that summer has regularly set in, During the lest few days the thermometer has stood at from 26 to 28 deg, Centigrade (79 to 80 Fahrenheit). [ADVERTISEMENT.] --Holloway's Pills. Sick Head aches.—Thousands suffer from this worrying annoyance when the body and brain are depressed by warm, damp weather. Holloway's purifying pills present a ready means of cure for indigestion, billousnees, faintness, and flatu• lency. In debilitated constitutions and nervous habits these pills are the best restoratives —they correct all the unpleasant torpidity of the liver, they remove distension, and never fail to obviate all obstructions of the bowels, and to induce their regular action. For all abdominal ailments Holloway's pills aro the safest possible medicine—they at once give case and comfort, and naturally strengthen the whole series of organs concerned in the process of indiges tion; will be found useful in every household, Mt SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING JUNE 27, 1864. Naval and Military Intelligence. S iner Majesty's screw steam sloop Racer, now in commte sion at Woolwich, was on Saturday hauled etit of the inner basin and received her complement of 130 men and boys, and a detachment of the Royal Marine Light ,Infantry, in readiness for sea. The following officers have joined : Commander Isaac N. T. Saulez (November 13th, 1854), Lieut. W. E. Darwall, lately of the flagship Nile, on the North American and West India stations; Surgeon Andrew M'Clure, M.A., from the Royal Marine Artillery at Fort Cumberland. Mr George W. Muir, paymaster, promoted, on paying off the Ardent; Mr Samuel M. Spry, master; Mr Hogg, Mr Jenner, and Mr Hoar have also joined. The Admiralty yacht Black Eagle, Staff Commander Whillier, recently returned from the Danish waters, having laid in stores for a three months' cruise, got up steam, and sailed from Woolwich on Saturday morning for Norway. Her Majesty's steam storeship Supply, Staff Commander Bawden, has arrived at Woolwich, laden with a cargo com pleting the residue of the garrison stores left at Corfu after the departure of the troops. Capt. Bawden, who has been suffering from severe rheumatic fever, Was on Saturday re moved in a cot from his ship to the Royal Naval Infirmary at Woolwich, and is progressing favourably. The War Department steamer Lord Panmure, Master Commander Moore, returned to Woolwich on Saturday laden with platforms, shot, and general stores ) from torts mouth, whither she sailed on the previous Sianday with a full cargo of heavy balks of thather to supply the new labo • ratory, under the superintendence of Capt. Bailey. Thus the two shipments, discharges, and double voyage were completed in about 140 hours, The Caspar, the 4.est of the fleet of vessels taken up this year by the Admiralty for the conveyance of Russian hemp to Chatham Dockyard, has arrived at that establishment from St. Petersburg, and has commenced discharging her cargo Mongaide the dockyard. The Racoon, 22, screw corvette, Capt. Count Gleichen, sailed from Spithead, on her northern cruise, on Saturday, Lieut. Prince Alfred rejoining from leave previous to the corvette weighing her anchor. The Prince, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Hesse, arrived at the Queen's private station in the Royal Clarence-yard, Gosport, from Windsor, at 10 45 a.m., where, on alighting, the Royal Princes were received by Major-Gen. Lord Wm. Paulet, C,8., Admiral Sir M. Seymour, G.C.8., Rear-Ad miral Harry Edgell, C. 8., Capt. Scott, C.B. (aide-de-camp to the Queen), Col. Thackwell (Assist. Adjutant-General), and other officers. Their Royal Highnesses immediately embarked on board the Fire Queen steam yacht, Staff. Com mander Paul, which conveyed them out to Spithead, and transferred them to the Racoon, lying at anchor with the Channel fleet, but with steam up in readiness to start on her voyage. Soon afterwards a signal was made from the Racoon to the Edgar, flagship of the Admiral commanding the Channel squadron, that " the Prince of Wales would be glad to see Admiral Decree on board the Racoon." The Admiral at once went on board the corvette. At 3 p.m. the Racoon weighed her anchor, and, after steaming about the Channel fleet for some little time, stood out to see by the eastern channel, with the Fire Queen in attendance. Off the Warner light-ship the engines were stopped, and the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Hesse, taking leave of Prince Alfred, left her, re-embarked on board the Fire Queen, and returned to Portsmouth harbour, landing at the Royal Clarence Victualling -yard, and thence proceeding by spe cial South Western train for Windsor, via Basingstoke, at 430 p.m. In accordance with the wish expressed by the Prince of Wales, no public honours of any kind were paid him beyond the attendance of the chief military and naval authorities at the Royal Clarence-yard. The inhabitants of Portsmouth, however, considering themselves free from any official trammels or etiquette, decked out their Victoria Pier, at the entrance to the harbour, gaily with flags, and cheered most lustily as the Fire Queen steamed in and out of the harbour, the Prince of Wales lifting his hat repeatedly in answer to the crowd assembled on the pier. The Channel fleet remains at Spithead, awaiting orders from the Admiralty. The esper:mental squadron, consisting of the Research, 4, 1,253 lons, 200 horse power, the En terprise, 4, 990 tons, 160 terse power, iron cased frigates, and the Wolverine, 21, 1,703 tons, 400 horse power, arrived at the Nore on Friday evening from their cruise in the North Sea, in order to be joined by the Fawn, 17, 750 tons, 100 horse power, and the paddlewheel steamer Salamis, 855 tons, 250 horse power, before proceeding on particular ser vice. On Saturday evening., in accordance with orders re ceived at Chatham by telegraph from the Admiralty, the Wolverine and Salamis proceeded to the Down, where they will be joined by the remaitder of the squadron. The Enter. prise was occup , ed nearly tie whole of Saturday in coaling. The Fawn has shipped the whole of her guns, shot, shell, and powder, and the officer; recently appointed to her have joined and taken up their commissions, and she will be ready to take her departure durirg the present week. The whole of the vessels will rendezvo es at the Downs, where they will join the ships composing the Channel fleet, under the orders of Admiral Dacres, C,8., acd await the final instructions of the Admiralty. The contractors' trial of the engines of the screw steam frigate Ocean took place outside Flymoulh breakwater on Saturday last. Her keel was laid at Devonport in Aug. 1860, for a wooden line-of battle ship, to carry 100 guns, but on the 30th of June, 1861, she was ordered to be "con verted" into an iron-cased frigate, mounting 34 guns. The Ocean was accordingly lengthened 20 feet amidships; her stem and stern were altered. She was launched on the 9th of March, 1863, and has since been protected with iron plates and fitted with bilge pieces at Keyham. This frigate is now classed with the Caledonia, Royal Alfred, Royal Oak, and Prince Consort, all of about 4,000 tons, and her engines and machinery, built by Messrs Maudslay, Sons, and Field, are precisely like those of the last named vessels, with the exception only that the pitch of the Ocean's screw is 22ft 6in, while that of the Prince Consort is 25ft. The trials of the Prince Consort's engines took place on the 23d, 24th, and 25th of September last year, and were reported at the time. The Ocean lett Haricaze at 9in the morning, in charge of Capt. 'William Edmonstone, C. 8., chief of the steam reserve. There was a numerous company on board, including Rear-Admiral Thomas M. C. Symonds, C. 8., superintendent of the dockyard, Mr. Maudslay, and Mr. Herbert Maudslay. The trial was superintended on the part of the Government by Mr James Steil, assistant engineer at Keyham, and Mr William A, Dinnen, inspector of machinery afloat; and for the contractors by Mr War rener. The weather was fine, wind being from the a .N. W., with a force of from 4to 5. The sea was moderately smooth. The temperature in the stoke-hole was about 10,), and on deck 65. Under full boiler power the mean of six runs at the measured mile gave 12.895 knots ; revolutions, 58 per minute ; vacuum, 25 3 e Under half boiler power the mean of four runs was 10.691 knots; revolutions, 471 ; vacuum, 261. These results are considered sufficiently satisfactory to prevent the necessity of any further trial. There were no hot bearings, and all the machinery appears to be in perfect order. The speed attained does not equal that of the Prince Consort's in September last, being 215 less, but that frigate was not then fitted with bilge pieces, and, not being so deeply laden, drew 51 inches less aft than the Ocean. The screw steam-sloop Cordelia, 11, was placed in com mission at Devonport on Friday with a complement of 130 men, She will receive draugats of seamen, marines, and boys to-day, and be stored forthwith for the Name station temporarily. The sloop is now in the Prince's dock, where her valves will be overhauled and bottom cleaned. The whole of the troops at Aldershott turned out for a field-day on Friday, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir John Pennefather, K.C.8., and proceeded to the com mon, near the Royal Pavilion. After marching past the division took ground to the westward, and formed in order of battle on the high ground south of the common to attack an advancing enemy, supposed to be occupying the village of Cove, with his right resting on Pyestock and his left on Cove-common. The heavy brigade of cavalry, under com• mand of Col. Darby Griffith, consisting of the Carabineers, the Royal Dragoons, and the Scots Greys, commenced the fight. They advanced in line of contiguous columns in close order at a trot, followed by the light brigade, under the command of Col. Soame Jenyns, and consisting of the 13th and 14th Hussars, The heavy brigade was accompanied by a half battery of Royal Horse Artillery on either flank, and the light brigade by a half battery similarly disposed. The heavy brigade deployed into line on the right squadron of the Royals, the batteries of this brigade taking up position in advance of the right and left fronts, and opening fire. Having aroused the enemy, the artillery limbered up, and the brigade advanced at a gallop, accompanied by the guns. The Hussar brigade, which had deployed into line during the above movements, advanced at a gallop and halted. The heavy brigade then retired by sections of threes from the right of regiments, and reformed line in rear of the Hussars. The heavy brigade next advanced, and the light retired by open column of troops from the left of the line. The heavy brigade halted, and the artillery again threw in several rounds. The heavy brigade then retired by open column of troops from the right at a trot, thus clearing the front of the infantry and artillery, who were in position, forming three lines, The Eoyal Artillery commenced a heavy cannaiade, supported by file firing, from General Taylor's brigade. General Russell's brigade advanced in line, and halted close to General Taylor's, thus forming four ranks, the latter kneeling, and both throwing in a tremendous filo fire, while the artillery pounded away without intermission. The enemy fell back; a few more combined and well -executed movements completed his disorder; and soon he was beating a hasty retreat to the westward, hctly pursued by the victorious troops until they were lost to the sight of the visitors. The whole of the manoeuvres were rapidly and skilfully executed. The division returned to quarters about 1 o'clock. By direct'on of the authorities at the War Department, a series of experiments will be carried out at Chatham dur ing the present summer by the officers and men attached to the Royal engineer establishment in order to test the merits of the new description of pontoon, similar to that in use in the Austrian army, which it is proposed to introduce into the English service. The superiority claimed for the Austrian pontoon is its increased strength and buoyancy. It is found to be far more portable than the ordinary Blanshard pontoon which has been adopted in the corps of Royal Engineers. It can, besides, be turned to use by an army when on the march and in the field—an advantage not possessed by the Blanchard pontoon, which, from its size and unwieldy train and proportions, causes the transport of the pontoon train to be attended with considerable difficulty, The experi- ments will be carried out under the superintendence of Col. Lovell, C. 8., one of the principal instructers nt the Royal Engine establishment, and a report made to the authori ties of the general results of the trials, Some experiments were also made some time since at Chatham with a new description of iron pontoon, as used in the Belgian service, the results of the trials on that occasion being deemed very satisfactory, as showing the btoyancY of the pontoons *hen tested tO an unusual degree. Another merit of the Belgian Pontoons was its adaptability for the stowage of war material as well as its portability. A new pontoon, the invention of Capt. Fowke, Royal Engineers,has also been under the notice of the authorities, and several experiments have been Wade with the invention s with, oh the Whole, highly satisfactory results. The object of the trials which are ordered to be made is to enable the authorities to decide upon the beat possible pontoon for use in the English service, and With this view the claim of the several inventions will be fairly tested. Since the removal of the pontoon practising-ground at Chatham from St. Mary's Creek to the opposite side of the harbour, near Upnor Castle, to enable the dockyard extension works to be proceeded with, increased facilities are given the officers and men of the Royal Engineers to carry on their expe r i men t s , ..... _ _ The following appointments have been made at the Admiralty :—Lient. Henry St. fa. B. Palliser, to the Racer —Sub-Lieut. Alex. P. Hastings, to the Aurora—Edward Billet', engiueer, to the Cordelia—Mark Lambert, engineer, to the Racer-,-Francis T. Elliott, to the Fawn —Edward Ramsay and Charles Boddington, assist,-engineers, to the Cordelia—Thos. Summers (B) and Chas. J. Edge, assist,- engineers, to the Racer—John Hancock (a) and Samson Gundry, assist.-engineer, to the Fawn—John Shepherd, assist.-clerk, to the Formidable as supernumerary—Com mander J. B. Grove and Commander T. D. Williams, to be inspecting commanders in the Coastguard—James Evans, midshipman, to the Edgar—David Nesmith, nominated to a naval cadetsh;p—J. W. Lishman, paymaster, to the Fawn —A, D. M'Arthur, paymaster additional to the Pembroke —D. Robb, promoted to chief engineer, and appointed to the Cumberland for the Serpent—J. Rollinson, promoted to chief engineer, and appointed to the Cumberland for the Terrible —John Downes, promoted to chief engineer and discharged on half-pay—John P, Allen, promoted to acting chief engineer, and reappointed to the Harrier—Matthew Murray, engineer, to the Excellent for the Stork—and J. C. Gray, engineer, to the Cumberland for the Bulldog. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, RH YMNEY. A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held on Fri day at the Gray's. inn Coffeehouse, Holborn, Mr Boyle in the chair, for the purpose of considering a bill for autho rising the Rhymney Railway Company to make and main. tain their Cardiff and Caerphilly and other railways; also a bill for authorising the Rhymney Railway Company to make and maintain lines of railway to join the Brecon and Merthyr Tydvil Junction Railway, and the Merthyr, Tredegar, and Abergavenny Railway, and the Rumney Railway respectively ; and a bill to enable the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway Company to construct new lines between their authorised lines and the Rumney and Rhymney Railways, and to connect the Rumney and Rhymney Railway, and between the Rumney Railway and Caerphilly and Llantwitfardre, and to join the Tall Vale, the Llantrissant and Taff Vale, and the Rhymney Railway, and new lines to join the Great 'Western and Monmouth shire Railways, and to raise further moneys. Mr Roy, the solicitor, having read the heads of the bills, The CRAIRMA.N moved formal resolutions approving them. Mr AUSTIN seconded the resolutions,which were adopted, and the proceedings terminated. GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA. The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday at the London Tavern, Mr W. J. Hamilton in the chair. Mr Watt, the secretary, read the notice of adjournment to receive the audited statement of accounts, an abstract o which has appeared in The Sun. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the audited accounts for the half. year ending the 31st of Dec. 1863, said they fully bore out the correctness of the statement laid before the proprietors at the last meeting by the directors. There was only one point to which he would advert—from the let of July to the end of December, 1863, they had paid for compensation £23,700. Were it not for that serious item their net receipts wculd have stood in a more favourable position as compared with corresponding half years, than ever they did in any previous half-year. (Hear, hear.) That large amount of compensation was chiefly for damage to cotton exposed during the monsoon, and to unfortunate fires on the line. The proprietors might depend that the directors both here and in India had taken every precaution in their power to prevent those fires in future. The habit of the natives sending unpressed cotton . to the railway had been the cause of much loss, which had resulted in an order against carrying it in that state—and they had put on a very heavy additional price to cover the risk. They had at times been obliged to refuse unpreseed cotton altogether. Fixed presses were now being erected at stations on the upper part of the line, so that they hoped soon to have a much larger quantity of cotton brought to them in a proper state for conveyance oser the railway. The resolution was then unanimously adopted, and a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded the proceedings. INDIAN BRANCH. The half-yearly meeting of this railway company was held on Friday at the London Tavern, the Marquis of Tweeddale in the chair. The report was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said the undertaking was for the purpose of establishing a permanent light system of railways in India. Their com pany was the first that had undertaken to make rail ways without a guaranteed rate of interest. All the railways that had been guaranteed were subjected to Government c eatro!, delay, interruption, and increased expense. The terms upon which they carried on their ope rations did not allow of interference with their works, or limit their dividend to 5 per cent. Their engineer, Mr Wilson, had returned to England for the benefit of his health, and he was glad to see him in the room. (Hear.) He thought the Government were right in waiting for the working of the Nulhattee line before conceding to the com pany the whole of the lines in Oude and Rohilcund. The Government had undertaken to supply the land, the road, and bridges, with the exception of the bridge to Moorsha bad. The late Governor. General, Lord Elgin, had visited the line when in course of construction, and had expressed his approval of the plan and works. The Deputy-Governor of Bombay had also inspected it, and, finding everything complete, agreed that it should be opened in January last for traffic. The receipts to March 31 amounted to Z 1,650, and the expenses to £6BO, leaving £970, which was equivalent to 5 per cent. on their outlay of £2,300 per mile, which was the cost to them when the line was completed in all re spects. The company were to have 796 miles conceded to them in the rich, productive, and populous district of Oude and Rohilcund. They were of easy construction, and the climate was well suited to the cultivation of most valuable produce for home consumption. The best districts bad been selected by the Government for those cheap lines, which would not only greatly develope the resources of those districts, but prove important feeders to the main line of the East Indian Railway between Benares and Delhi. Mr WILSON, the engineer in chief, gave an account of the company's proceedings in India. The receipts on the Nulhattee line for the three months it was open gave a net return of 51 per cent on the capital, but this was no criterion of what it would be when it was in operation a longer time. It was difficult to divert the traffic from the old route, but since they had established through booking between Cal cutta and Moorshabad, and vice versa, the traffic had greatly increased. He had received a letter, dated the 16th of last month, from which it appeared that the goods traffic alone for seven days on the Nulhattee line amounted to £122, and he had no doubt that the goods traffic on the Indian lines would equal the passenger traffic. The principle upon which their system rested was economy, lightness, stiffness, in obtaining the same strength with half the weight of material judiciously put together. The carriages for con veying 200 persons weighed about 74 tons, but on the ordi nary construction the dead weight of the carriages would be four times as much, pr 30 tons. The same result was ob tained in conveying goods ; therefore a heavy engine was not required, and a light one was adopted. The Govern ment subsidy of £lOO per mile per annum for 20 years was equivalent to £1,350 per mile, which, added to £2,300 for the Nulhattee line, or to £2,650 for the Oude and Rohilcund lines, gave the total cost of them per mile. On the Nul hattee line the subsidy was equivalent to 2} per cent. per annum for 20 years, and the net traffic for the short time it had been opened 3.16 per cent., even without a junction with Moorshabad, as the people had to cross the river to and from the railway. But in the Oude and Rohilcund dis • tricts the traffic would be far greater than on the Nulhattee line. There were 23 coach companies on the road between Cawnpore and Lucknow, from which they could form some idea of what the traffic would be on their lino, which would run all the way by the side of the road. In Lucknow there were 350,000 inhabitants, and in Fyzabad beyond it there were 2.50,000 inhabitants. The whole district was more densely populated than any part of Europe, and there was ample traffic to pay thorn a very large dividend. There could be no doubt that railways economically constructed in India would pay handsomely. Mr DIM; in seconding the motion for the adoption of the report, explained that the Government gave the company the land for the railway, and a subsidy of ,ElOO a mile per annum for 20 years, which was equal to £1,300 in cash. This was given in lieu of making the roads for the branch railway company, and that was about the average cost to the Government o. making the ordinary roads. This was done in cases where the Government had no road to give the company. The concession for the lines in Oude and Rohil cund was agreed to be given them by the .late lamented Governor-General of India, Lord Elgin. They had no doubt that final terms would be come to, and that the sub sidy for those lines would be granted. The concession was for 99 years, After some observations by Mr Sheward, Mr Powell, and Mr Turnbull, as to the favourable prospects of the under taking, resolutions were passed adopting the report; autho rising the directors to borrow £lOO,OOO at 5 per cent on mereton is mistaken in supposing that Mr. F. Ber keley regards the right of voting as a personal right which may be exercised for the private benefit of the individual. The suffrage should neither be turned .to private gain nor to private detriment, and it is to guard against the latter wrong that the protection of the Ballot is demanded. And it is a notorious fact that for want of protection great numbers of the class of ten-pound househo:ders in trade tike care to disqualify themselves, and avoid the register as they would avoid the loss of custom and the displeasure of all persons who have the power of injuring them. Lord Palmer ston's objections to the ballot would be all sound if independence were the common condition of the people of this country, if men always chose their parties from conviction, and in conformity with them went boldly to the hustings and deli vered honest votes. Bat every one knows that such is not the case, and that where bribery and intimidation prevail there is a corre sponding false show of opinion to save the shame of the corrupted or the bullied. The voter against his will is made a hypocrite, and wears with the badge of party in whose sere vice he is pressed a pretence of the opinions belong ing to it. He cannot for very shame avow Radical principles, and go and vote for an ultra-Tory can didate. He delivers a false suffrage in conformity with lying professions. Lord Palmerston ignores all this, and holds— In this country, I ma i n t a i n th a t a man i s proud of his party. He may be thought right or wrong by his neigh bours, but I do not believe that, when he has been enlisted under the banner of one candidate or the other, he is not proud of the side he has taken. So far from wishing to conceal his vote, or sneaking with it to the ballot-box, he tells all his friends what he is going to do, and is rather anxious than otherwise that the whole community should know it. This is true, no doubt, of the independent man, who has his opinions, and acts in conformity with them, fearless of any one's displeasure; but how many are so happily circumstanced ? and it is for those who are not, and who have to consider the consequences of the resentment of landlords, patrons, and customers, that protection is asked. The State has no right to require a man to risk ruin in the discharge of a public duty. Lord Palmerston floats that the franchise is a trust, for the due performance of which there must be re sponsibility to the unenfranchised, and with it pub licity. Whether the franchise is a privilege or a trust is not worth dispute, but whatever may be its nature there is no responsibility to the unentranchieed, and if there were, it would be so irresistible argument for universal suffrage. For nothing can be clearer than this, that if the unenfranchised are competent to judge of the way in which the electoral duty is performed, and, indeed, to exercise a control over it, they must a fortiori be qualified to discharge it themselves. To deny them tie franchise as unfit, and to hold the classes fit to be trusted with it re sponsible to their judgment as to the exercise, is a gross and glaring inconsistency. The argument that publicity is essential to a trust is plausible, but not always sound, And in the dependent elector's case publicity is fatal to the honest discharge of the duty. It has always struck us that an anecdote to!d by Froissart is highly illustrative of the fallacy in question. A poor woman complained to Bajazet that one of his grooms had stolen her milk. Ba jazet called for the man, who protested his inno cence of the charge. "We will soon discover the truth of this matter " said Bajsz e t ; " cut open t h e man's stomach, and let us see what there is in it." This was pushing light rather further than justice, for the man was killed in the process of inquiry, whether innocent or guilty. And in like manner the electoral body is cut open to see how things go on in it. THE SATURDAY REVIEW" ON SMITH O'BItIEN. —Theex-rebel and patriot who has just terminated a remarkably useless life in harmless obscurity was not devoid of qualities which have always been recognised as mitigating the censure due to legal and even moral criminality, and which partially redeemed from contempt a career presenting an unusually broad mark to ridicule. Though tech nically a felon and traitor, and really a mischievous and conceited monomaniac, the late Mr. Smith O'Brien never utterly forfeited the esteem of his contemporaries ; and though one of the weakest and silliest of men that ever claimed to act a part in history, he was at no time altogether despicable. In fact, paradoxical as it may seem, it would not be difficult, without the slightest deviation from literal accuracy, to construct a very toler able panegyric on the character of a man whose life from first to last was an absurd and dismal mistake, whose mediocre abili• ties would never have excited notice, but for the stupendous vanity which accompanied them, and whose solitary service to his country was that he exhibited tresson and insurrection in a ludicrous point of view. He was unquestionably sincere, dis interested, and, according to his very feeble lights, patriotic. He had the feelings and principles, as well as the education, of a gentleman, and was wholly incapable of a mean or sordid act. As an agitator, he devoutly believed in the delusions which he propagated ; and as a rebel, he risked his life by the side of the miserable peasants who formed his er retnely ragged regiment. He never made a trade of patriotism ; he never sent round his hat ; and while his most prominent coadjutors found sedition a good paying business, Smith O'Brien staked and lost property and position in a cause which he had persuaded himself to regard as that of his country. There was always a certain c hivalrousness about th e man. It is recorded of him that, a few days before the campaign which began and ended at Bailin garry, he was all but deposed from the command by a rebel council of war, because rather (absurdly, by the way) he would nut " tarnish the fair fame of an ancient family by having recourse to plunder and robbery" to maintain his army that was to be. Again, at the most critical moment of the cabbage garden fray, he is said to have gone on his knees to dissuade his followers from burning a party of police in their extemporised fortress. Such anec dotes are often more or less apocryphal, but there can be no doubt that Smith O'Brien was a humane and gentlemanlike rebel, and wished as far as pos sible to make his revolution with rcse water. When he stood in th e d ock as a traitor, he received with entire composu re a sentence which he had every reason to suppose would be punctually carried into effect; and he would, in all probability, have en countered with dignity a fate which he had undeniably merited. It may be confidently assumed that no earthly consideration would have tempted him to purchase, by any con cession which he deemed degrading, the mercy which was extended to him by the Crown. iu exile, he honourably distinguished him- THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA, (From tke limes Correspondent) BALTIMORE, June 13. A story is told in Baltimore by a gentleman who was recently in Richmond, that the Southern Pres sident was asked in his presence how soon he thought the war would end ? Placing his hand upon the head of a little boy, not five years of age, Mr. Davis replied," Not till this child is an old man." Mr. Davis's sorrowful anticipation is shared in this city, if not further corn. All expectation that the Fedezals will conquer the Confederates, or the Con federates the Federate, has subsided. The exhaustion of neither party is deemed possible. The interven tion of Great Britain and France has ceased to be looked for. The capture of Richmond, if effected— which few believe —may gratify the pride of the North, but Will not expedite the subjugation of the South. The strength of the Confederates lies in no city and no locality, but in the hearts of a people, whom the prolongation of hostilities may exasperate, but can never incline to peace. The only chance that promises speedier results than Northern vice tory is Northern defeat, to be achieved over Grant or Sherman, it matters not which. The idea of those who see in the independence of the South the only chance for the preserva tion of the liberties of the North is, that such a defeat in the midst of the Presidential con test would lead to a commercial panic and a furious agitation of p opular passions, out of which would the North. Th en i t i s argue d t s h p e ri S ng ou a th ci m vi i i gh a t r ielitort the recognition of its ra brina inde pendence from that pow er f ul Northern party w hi c h in such an event would certainly arise to prevent the farther d victory iB e will nteg nottion of the Rep u bli c . B ut Fede ra l success , an d the child will become a youth, th e youth a man, and Federal the man grow gray with the burden of 70 winters before the South will learn submission. The South can bear defeat. The question is if the Worth can bear it without political convulsion. It would seem, frem the plight of General Grant ; from his inac tivity for the last eight days—from the fearful losses be has endured—from the readiness of Gene ral Lee to confront and foil him at any point upon which he may select to hurl his legions—from the well-known though strenously denied fact that the Confederates in every battle have inflicted at least three times the damage they have sustained ; and from the fact, equally ominous, but not so stoutly contested, that a siege of Richmond might consume the sureener and Grant's army along with it by the diseases and fevers of an encampment among the swamps of the Chickahominy, that this great ques tion may have a speedier answer than most people anticipated a month ago, and that Grant's defeat, retreat, or withdrawal, is not only imminent from day to day, but will be followed by complications far graver and more perilous than attended the drawn battles of M'Clellan and; Meade, or the ree verse s of Pope, Burnside, and Hooker. The indications to-day are that Grant will try another charg e of base, and risk another great battle, before resorting to the last extremity of a siege. Air. Stanton's curt despatches lead to the inference that the movement has already corn menced, and the guarded letters of the New York and Plailadelpeie journals name the James River as the new starting point of his much-en during army. It ie, perhaps, sufficient critieiem debentures; authorizing the shareholders to pay up any number of the shares in full, for which they would be allowed 5 per cent per annum; end re-elviing the retiring directors and auditors, On the motion of Mr G. SHEWARD, a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors was passed unanimously, and the proceedings concluded with thanks to Mr Wilson for hiS statement; SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TEE " SPECTATOR" ON TUE COMING WAR.— The Conferenee which ought never to have met has risen, and the possibilities of peade are slipping away by hours. One more formal meeting takes place to-day, and then the plenipotentiaries sum moned to register and legaliie an act of armed spoliation disperse to countries more deeply em bittered than they were before the assemblage, .1 1 hroughottt the negotiations every country en gaged has maintained the attitude which it had assumed in war; Prussia, insolent, unreasoning, and aggressive; Atistria cotirteotis in seeming, but following steadily Herr von Bismark's lead; Den mark complaining, and moderate up to a point, but pressed beyond that, had as iron, or as the op pressed are apt to be; Russia Unintelligible; France watchful; and England, conciliatory to the verge, or over the verge, of national humiliation. After surrendering the treaty 0f1852, which England her self prepared, after giving up Holstein and sellieg Lauenburg, after offering one large slice of the country whose integrity he was bound to defend, after compelling his unhappy ally to abandon the boundary of a thousand years, and suggesting that she might live without a defensible frontier, Earl Russell made his final effort in favour of peace and accepted a crowning humiliation. He abandoned his own ultimatum, the line of the Schlei, and by agreeing to an award of any boundary between the Dannewerke and Apenrade, agreed to place purely Danish population under the rule of their foes. Even that shameful concession was rejected, eagerly by Prussia, reluctantly by Austria, despairingly by Denmark, and then at last the uselessness of the Conference became clear even to the diplomatic mind, and it remained only to decide whether Ger many should carry out the design which she has pursued all along, and Denmark ceases to exist, or England should declare that concession being ex hausted,she was prepared to defend the right of small nations to exist by arms. Then at last the thesis maintained from the first by Elri Grey alone among p )iiticians, and the Spectator alone among journ.,ls, was felt to be true. Hid Egv.l4,nd ;rum the first preferred her honour and her policy to her comfort and the surplus, had she cout i s e ll e d th e f orma l re nunciation of Holstein, and sent 20,000 men to the Dannewerke, the war would never have broken out, and with Holstein assigned to Germany and Lauenburg to Prussia, the Danes might have remained the guaranteed and independent masters of all that is truly theirs, the Peninsula north of the river which before Latin ceased to be a co,- loquial tongue was described as the Scandinavian fron tier, THE EXAMINER ON THE BALLOT.—Lord Pal self from his less scrupulous companions by refus ing to snatch freedom at the expense of his parole; and he would, we doubt not, have lived and died a conviet rather than seek a favour from the Govern- , ment which at !est pardoned him. Altogether, tho descendant of Brien toroitme had a sort of regality about him which marked hilt off from the mercenary or bloodthirsty patriots with whom an unkind destiny associated him. Intellectually he was * very poor creature ; as a political guide and leader' of men, he was an incapable simpleton ; but he bad at least a fall averag e share of the moral qualities which, when found in conjunction with common sense, claim the respect and admiration of mankin . e. What was really wonde r f u l ab o ut a character which otherwise offers little to invite or repay the labour of psychological analysis was a vanity which ap proached the preternatural. For a man who had had the benefit of the best education that England has to give, and whom 20 years in the House of Commons might have taught to take the measure . of his own abilities, th ere i s somet hi ng astoun ding In the dull, stolid audacity with which he uniformly thrust himself into positions for which he was ludi4 crously unfit, and assumed res p ons ibili t i es W hich be had not a single qualific a ti on , na t ura l or ac quired, for creditably dischargi ng . Wi t h out a par ticle of oratorical talent, he set up f or a d emagogu e; and; with the pro'bundest ignorance of th e art and science of war, he headed an arme d i nsur rection against the British Empire. He was cased in a perfect rhinoceros hide of self-conceit on which no amount of ridicule, remonstrance, or censure could could ever make the faintest impression. COUNTRY MARKETS. NORWICH -SATURDAY. The present uncertain state of political affairs caused the farmers at this market to-day to keep back their wheat samples, and the little business transacted was effected at an advance of 2s to 3s per qr on the full prices of this day se'nnight. In other articles an inactive trade, a t about late rates. White wheat. 42s to 44 , Red wheat 38s to 40 8 Malting barley . .. 358 to 368 Chevalier barley 33s to 3 48 Distilling d 0..... 298 to 30 s Oats. 1 ..24- to 26' Flour, 25s Od to 26s Od per sack from the miller YORK-SATURDAY. There was a small supply of wheat at market to-day, in good condition. An improved demand, and last week's rates advanced 2s per qr. Very little barley shown, but i.he trade was healthy, and former prices maintained. Oats in moderate supply, with a ready sale, at nearly is more money. Beans scarce, and a steady business was done at prices in favour of the seller. Wheat, red 37s to 40s 0at5...... lBs to 20 White do .40s to 47s Beans 32. to 34- Barley .25s to 288 Peas .... to --, Malt, 58s to 60s per qr.; rye, 36s per qr ; flour, 294 to 328 per sack. GRANTHAM-SATURDAY. Old white wheat,'4ls to 465; red, 37s to 42s per 36st. ; new white, 39s to 47s ; red,: 36s to 435. Malting barley, 33s to 36s per qr ; grinding, 26s to 29s ; oats, old, 23s ti 265; new, 20s t 0248; beans, 34s to 375; peas, 35s to 375. LEICESTER -SATURDAY. A moderate show of wheat, and a steady bueinses done at fully 2s per qr over late rates. Barley again came to hand sparingly, and met a moderate demand at little or no altera tion in prices. Oats a healthy trade, and 6d to is dearer. —New white wheat, 42s to 46s ; red, 39s to 43e per 36 stone. Old red, 38s to 42s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 32s to 34s per qr.; grinding, 26s to 28s; old oats, 27s to 295; new oats, 20s to 24s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 40s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 25s to 30s per 20 atone. NOTTINGHAM-SATURDAY. A moderate show of wheat to-day, with a fair inquiry, at 2s to 3s over late prices. Barley very limited in supply, well taken off, and late prices were supported. Beans in good demand, at full prices, but scarce. Oats 6d to is up. —White wheat, from 39s to 44s ; red wheat, 38s to 425. Barley—malting, 30s to 37s ; grinding, 27s to 295. Oats', old, at 248 to 30s Od; new, 19s Jo 265. Beans sold at 381 to 42s per qr. ; new, 35s to 38s. Flour, fine, 29s to 31s; super, 838 to 388:per 20 stone. DUBLIN—FRIDAY. A strong attendance to day. Supply moderate, and an improved demand for both Irish and foreign grain at an advance of 6d on all wheat and Indian corn. A fair inquiry for oats at 3d over late rates. Flour steady, but value unchanged. s. d. s. d. Wheat, white 24 0 to 26 6 Do., red 2l 6 to 24 0 Do., new Barley Oats ..... Do., black — 0 to 0 d. Oatmeal lO 0 to 13 0 Beans.. . 0 to 0 Bere - 0 Rapeseed 0 to 0 Bakers' flour Indian corn Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton .. June —. via Marseilles July 14. drazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. July 5.1 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena June 29 "hina, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton June—. via Marseilles June 27. Falkland Islands o • •• Gibraltar, via Southampton .. June —. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.. June—. via Marseilles.... June 27 India (Bombay), via Southampton June 25 via Marseilles July 5. Portugal.... Oalta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southaroptot June —.— via Marseille , July 5 N ewfoundland )porto and Vigo r?. ;, rwil Briti.h N. America, I y Brit. packer June 30 by U.S. packet by Canadian packet June 24 All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 June 2 8 . nalifornia. and British Columbia.. PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN.—Our readers must recollect the intense interest with which the public received the announcement of MM. Bunsen and Kirchoff's wonderful discovery of spectrum analysis, and the surprise which was caused by the fact that the chemical constituents of the sun might be determined by this valuable method of investigation. The conquests of science, however, are sometimes dearly bought, and the acquisition of a new theory will occasionally compel us to relinquish another which, though it answered its purpose, is found to be incompatible with the new discovery. This was the case with the constitution of the sun according to W. Herschel's theory, which supposed it to consist of a dark nucleus, surrounded with a high at mosphere, the upper part of which only was in a state of combustion, and was called the photosphere. When a spot was remarked on the surface of the sun, it might easily be explained by this theory by saying that the burning enve lope had, by some convulsion, been torn open, and that the dark nucleus thus became visible through the gap. The faculss, or wrinkles seen on the burning surface, might be explained by the vehement action caused by a tem perature infinitely superior to any we can produce on our earth. The instantaneous changes of form observable in the spots were equally well explained by Herschel's theory, and Arago had proved the gaseous nature of the photosphere by showing that it did not emit any polarized light, which it would if it were liquid or solid. But M. Kirchoff overthrows this convenient theory, by declaring that the sun's nucleus, instead of being dark, is even more luminous than the photosphere, because the spectrum formed by the passage of solar rays through prisms presents the black bands observed by Wollaston in 1802, and since studied by Fraunhofer, instead of the brilliant bands produced by the vaporised metals, constituting the visible incandescent surface of the sun. Unwilling to forego the advantages accruing from Herschel's theory, M. Petit, the astronomer of Toulouse, in a paper addressed to the Academy of Sciences, describes two observations made by him for the purpose of measuring the distance of the nucleus from the photosphere. From this delicate opera. Lion it appears that the nucleus, which ceased to be visible in a spot at a distance of nine seconds from the sun ' s limb, was still visible at ten seconds, which by calculation gives t f h or e t e h e e i th a , l e ti r t a u d d i e ue o! t H he ene s e un , to be confirmed.—Gakenani. ' H s e a r t sc m h os e p r h s etrheeaervyalwueeueldquseelemt, Births. BIDA.CKETT.—On tha 24th inst., at Ealing, the wife of H. Blackett, Esq., of a son. CAMPION.—Os the 24th inst., at Red-hill, Mrs. Frederick Campion, of a daughter. PoNsomm—On the 24th inst., at The Cloisters, Windsor, the Hun. Mrs. Henry Ponsonby, of a daughter. PEPTC—On the 23d inst , at Hallow Vicarage, near Wor o-ster, the wife of the Rev. Herbert G. Pepys, of a daughter. Marriages. COLEMAN—PRIM—On the 23d inst., atTownatal Church, Dartmouth, Robert Were Coleman, Esq., of Wands worth. Surrey, to Mary Russell Mitford Price, Mount Pleasant, Dartmouth. NEVILLE.—JOHNSON.--On the 25th inst., at Christ Church, Commercial-road East, Thomas Cliff, second son of Frederick Neville, Esq.. of Noble-street, and Barnsbury, to Julia, second daughter of the late James Johnson, Esq , of Cannon-street-road, E. Deaths. CODRINGTON.—On the 24th inst , at Dodington, Glouces tershire, • Sir Christopher William Codrington, Bart,, M.P., aged 60. CAMERON.—On the 24th inst., at 22, Ecoleston-squ are, Anne Louisa, eldest daughter of the late Donald Cameron, of Lochiel. ESTE.—On the 22d inst., at Coleshill-street, Thos. Stuart Este, aged 80. EDGER.—On the 20th inst., at Gainford, Thomas Stamp Edger, Esq., M.D., aged 66, WATlows,—On the 24th inst., at Leigh House, Ardwicke, Manchester, Wm. B. Watkins, Esq,. aged 76. WEDGWOOD —On the 24th inst., James Mackintosh, son of Henshigh Wedgwood, Esq. London: Printed and Prblished by WILLIAM ANDRE-NS of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Ogee N O. 112 : Strand, ,n the Precinct of the 'Savoy, n the Cown'T of ALLlCasex.—liondAy, Jane 27, 1844.